Monday, December 31, 2012

Around Christmastime, my
siblings and I were talking about age and getting older...
My sis is 4 years older and my brother 2 years older so they have
already passed the big "30" mark and I am heading there soon (but not too soon... I still have a loooooooooooong year and a half to go ;)

30 is when you are no longer a "young adult."

You are just an adult... a "grown- up."

There are times when thinking about growing up kind of depresses me, but not today.

For some reason today I am filled with the gratitude and appreciation that comes with age.

Today I am pondering life and all the amazing people around me and
thinking... look how far we've come! Look at all the new exciting
things happening and all the unexplored potential that is right there on
the horizon.

For example, my bff Jess is in India right now- India! Now plenty of people have no desire to go to India (I am one of them- ha!) But
for her to be able to work in her field of anthropology and travel to
these places... it is a dream that a small-town girl didn't always believe was possible. And my
sister-n-laws on both sides have this amazing talent for interior
design. One could give the Junk Gypsy girls a run for their money and
the others house looks likesomething out of Better Homes and
Gardens magazine... So many unexplored possibilities... who knows where it will take them!

And I think about all the people whose dreams have turned into reality... My cousin Simon became a fireman and his wife Christy
graduated from college and had a beautiful baby girl. My Uncle Kab
graduating (which no one in a million years would have thought he would do ;)andbecoming
a paramedic. My brother-n-law Jose is an incredible music minister while my sister is super mama homeschooling her 5 girls.

And
it is not just the people who are doing new things... It is also
those whose jobs might seem mediocre, but they are working hard to live
the life they wanted. They are raising their children, loving their
spouses and doing what they are meant to do in this season of their
lives. Those who have been through rough times and have pulled
themselves out of it and are moving forward... Those who are loving life and always positive about where they are headed.

Monday, September 10, 2012

My first craft show of the year for Sailor Studio is this Saturday. Am I ready??? Not really, but I have a lot of new jewelry and this week I will be sprucing up the display. So hopefully I'll be good to go by the weekend.

I can't wait to see how people respond to some of the new designs!

2. Distractions

I know I have a ton of work to do, but it is really hard to put my little bubs down...

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Wednesday (the 22nd) I went to my last doctor's appointment, exactly one week before our scheduled c-section, and 2 weeks before my actual due date. I was having lots of braxton-hicks contractions, tightening around my stomach but not painful. Baby boy had dropped down and he was making me incredibly uncomfortable, especially at night.

I was so big, everyone thought I would go early, but I wasn't expecting to. The doctor checked everything out and said it was all normal, no signs at all of early labor.

Thursday morning I went to a big consignment sale to look for the last few things we needed (I got some great stuff). Then I went by JoAnns (fabric/craft store), taking advantage of being kid-less for a few hours.

As I was walking around the store I stopped in an aisle and all of a sudden felt something...* TMI Alert * like a small "gush." Trying not to freak out, I walked quickly back to the bathroom. I thought my water might have broke, but turns out it was my mucus plug (dry-heaving I know... I'll spare any more details but definitely look it up if you are pregnant so you won't be freaked out if/when you lose it). Now I had never experienced this in other pregnancies, but thankfully I had read about it online so I knew what it was.

So anyway, I left the store and began having contractions, but they weren't too painful. They were steady for about an hour and then they stopped. Once I got home I looked up all the info on losing a m.p. - and it said it could be a sign of labor starting, but it could also mean nothing... so pretty much back to square one. I felt fine the rest of the night.

Friday morning around 6, I woke up with serious back pain. I felt like I was having contractions all across my lower back and it was painful! They lasted for about an hour. Goose got up to go to work and asked if I needed him to stay home and I said no... they were starting to get farther apart. I was able to nap for a couple hours and everything stopped.

I thought it would be just another ordinary day.

Then, around 2:00, Reese and I left to go to the bank and get gas before picking up the twins from school. As soon as I started driving, the contractions started... like real contractions. They were around the front and were getting painful.

I had a little notebook with me and started writing down the time (my mom always told me to do that if they were getting consistent)... I am glad I did because they were getting closer together and almost exactly 7-8 minutes apart. I held off calling the doctor because I didn't want to go through the whole check in process just for a false alarm.

But once they were about 5 minutes apart,

Goose told me (okay ordered me) to call the doctor.

She told me to come in now.

I was almost to the twins' school at this point so I went in, trying to play it cool, like I was not having serious contractions every few minutes... The front desk lady looked at me like I was nuts when I told her I needed to check out the boys and was heading to the hospital. She called over the speaker, "I need Nolan and Ty to check out right now please!"

We got in the car and they were so excited that the baby was coming... then Nolan got quiet and in a very concerned voice said, "Mom, Do I have to be in there when they take the baby out?"

and I said "No, it will just be me with the doctors and daddy."

He was very relieved.

Goose left work and we were going to meet at the house and then head to
the hospital. I, of course hadn't packed a bag or anything. Once I got home I started throwing stuff together... totally not the time to try packing a hospital bag. I forgot toothpaste, my conditioner and soap, and a nursing-friendly shirt to wear after the babe came.

Word to the wise- pack your bag early!

Goose's parents got there to pick up the boys and

then Goose got there finally (Friday traffic).

We threw the stuff in the car, kissed the boys good-bye

and headed to the hospital. I loved getting to text the family

and tell them we were going in early.

So fun to surprise everyone :)

The ride down was hilarious... It was like 5:00 on Friday and we had to go through Loganville and Snellville so traffic was horrendous. Goose was driving like a maniac (only slightly more than usual) and the contractions were coming almost

exactly 3 minutes apart.

In between contractions, I took a few pictures

of Hudson's last time in my belly :)

We got to the hospital and checked in. I changed into my

super attractive hospital gown and they hooked me up to

the baby monitor and contraction belt. The contractions

slowed down a little, but they were still very painful.

Then, the nurse checked me. I was only 1 cm and 60% effaced!! Seriously?? ...but the doc said since the contractions were so steady they would go ahead with the c-section.

Everything went quickly after that.

They put in the epidural and had me in the

operating room within an hour.

Goose came in and Hudson was

out in just a couple minutes.

He started crying and it

was the best. moment. ever.

(first pic)

Goose completely forgot the

flip camera and the regular camera

so we have no pics or video from when he

first came out... booooo.

8 lbs 9 oz! Big boy! The nurses were

oohing and awing over his chubby cheeks

and blonde hair.

We got back to the labor room,

and we finally got to hold him.

Emotional! I couldn't believe he

was there, healthy and beautiful as can be.

Now we still didn't have a name...

and we didn't decide until we were packed up and

ready to leave the hospital. We had to turn in the

birth certificate sheet so I had to write something.

I was sooooo indecisive, I still liked

Silas but just wasn't sure about it.

Goose said, "He's a Hudson." so I went with it :)

Now the recovery of my c-section has not been so great. Because we went early, a different doctor than we had planned performed the surgery. Instead of using the same incision as the previous ones like my other doctor does, she cut a totally new incision above the old one. I had no idea until about 3 days later when I could see it.

The healing has been sloooow and a lot more painful then the last two... but I am finally starting to feel better. I am so thankful Goose was able to take a full week off of work. He did pretty much everything around the house and took great care of me and the boys.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Because I am having the whole scheduled c-section thing, that means 8 days and counting...

Me: Ready, ready, sooooooo ready... can't sleep, even with my

2.4 million pillows tucked everywhere. Can't wait to

meet this wild child.

Babe: He's just hanging out... being massive.

I get the "are you positive it's not twins again?"

comment on the reg... awesome.

Bod: The swelling has begun like whoa. I did pretty

well this time... lasted almost the whole nine months without

these lovely cankles and sausage fingers.

In other news...

My mom and sis threw me a casual family shower Friday night at our place. I wasn't really planning on a shower this time around (4th boy and all) but I am so thankful they decided to, not only because it was fun to get together and celebrate this little guy, but also because it forced me and goose to finally get some sort of nursery together and deep clean the house before we brought a newborn home. Having people over is the best motivation!

Thank you guys for the awesome gifts,

we got exactly what we needed!

Goose got suckered in to hanging out all night

with the ladies ...only fair he should have to attend

at least one of his kid's showers ;)

(he took every opportunity to

be obnoxious of course :)

And, in case you were wondering,

we still have not decided on a name.

I like Silas, Elliott, Lincoln, and

Tobias (Toby for short)... Goose loves the name

Hudson, but I am hearing it everywhere.

We put up this board for fun at the shower and let everyone vote on their favorite:

Toby and William won the vote, but sorry Grandmas, "William Robert" has been vetoed.

Not that William is a terrible name or anything, but Billy Bob Bilsland...

just ain't gonna happen. ;)

_____________________________

BTW, have I mentioned how many pregnant women there arein this family right now???

(Me and my big sis who is due in Nov. with her 5th girl)

(my cousin Christy (left) is due in Feb with her first)

(Don't mind my goofy uncle)

My aunt Rita (back) is due in October with her second, a boy this time.

And my sis-n-law, Amy, on goose's side is also pregnant with a little girl (due in December).

That means there will be brand-new, beautiful babies everywhere over the next few months.

Friday, August 17, 2012

I'm still procrastinating on baby stuff, so I thought I would share some of my favorite summer moments today:

Camping was fun... not so much with the being-pregnant part, but the boys had a blast :)

The Bunch twins (nephews) turned 4!!

This belly is outofcontrol...

We spent as much time as possible at my aunt's pool. Preggo swimming is the best and the boys loooooove the water :)

Nolan catching dragonflies: my favorite pic of the summer!

Double Time!

We
told Reese you have to smile for the dragonflies to come to you, so he
wore a huge cheesy grin around the pool for about 30 minutes before one
finally landed on him :)

Nolan got pretty bold and started jumping off the rock-

scared me to death!

My nieces catching dragonflies :)

And of course, there was a little education

thrown in there. The boys kept up with their

Chinese lessons from Aunt Rita (who is also

preggo with a baby boy):

...and they have been reading like crazy- so proud!

Now we all know Reese has somewhat of a "cartoonish" voice... I found this video of him reading from a few months ago and well, it cracks me up- he even adds a little accent at the end for good measure. :)